In this rarely seen photo, a group of marines celebrate on a mountain summit during World War Two as the Stars and Stripes flutters behind them in the breeze.

If the scenery looks familiar, it's because this is Mount Suribachi on Iwo Jima, February 23, 1945 - and just moments earlier, five of the soldiers were caught on film erecting the US flag in what soon became an iconic image.

The pictures were shot on the tiny Pacific island by Joe Rosenthal - and now his personal album has emerged for sale at auction

His image of American troops struggling to raise the flag after taking the mountain from the Japanese during the Battle of Iwo Jima won him the prestigious Pulitzer Prize.

This rare photo shows US troops celebrating moments after the flag was raised during the Battle of Iwo Jima on February 23, 1945. The pictures were shot on the tiny Pacific island by Joe Rosenthal - and now his personal album has emerged for sale at auction

Moments earlier at the scene, on Mount Suribachi, Rosenthal photographed this iconic image of five marines struggling to raise the US flag. Right, his Raising The Flag On Iwo Jima picture was used for the US Marine Corps Memorial in Virginia (right)

The moment the flag is raised in this original photo in Rosenthal's album

Other images show the invasion landings on the island, soldiers in foxholes and troops holding up souvenir Japanese flags seized from the enemy.

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The album was acquired from Rosenthal about 30 years ago by a private dealer who in turn sold it to American war historian Rodney Hilton-Brown who is now selling it.

It has a pre-sale estimate of £10,000.

Rosenthal's Raising The Flag On Iwo Jima picture was used for the US Marine Corps Memorial in Virginia.

American troops hold up souvenir Japanese flags seized from the enemy in another of the photos in Rosenthal's album

The album was acquired from Rosenthal about 30 years ago by a private dealer who in turn sold it to American war historian Rodney Hilton-Brown who is now selling it

The battle claimed 6,821 out of the 30,000 American troops and 21,570 Japanese lives. Above, US troops on the island

Tom
Lamb, of auctioneers Bonhams, said: 'After the battle, a smaller US
flag was actually raised on top of the Mount Suribachi but that was
deemed to be too small and so a much larger one was sent for.

'Joe Rosenthal only saw the second flag go up out of the corner of his eye and took the shot. He didn't known what he had got at the time.

'He got a large group of marines to then pose for the camera around the flag.

'He took his camera down the mountain, got a plane to Guam and had the film developed on the same day and the rest is history.

'Joe Rosenthal was a very good war photographer but he was famous for this one image.

US army tanks roll into view in the battle against the Japanese Empire and, right, one of the American troops from 1945

President Harry Truman, left, is presented with a bronze statue by sculptor Felix de Weldon, centre, and Associated Press photographer Joe Rosenthal at the White House in June 1945

Joe Rosenthal, pictured in 1995, in front of the Iwo Jima memorial in Virginia

'This was his very own album of photographs that chronicle the Battle of Iwo Jima and is a very significant piece of photographic history.'

Out of around 30,000 US marines who attacked Iwo Jima, around 7,000 were killed compared to 20,000 out of 21,000 Japanese soldiers who fought to the death.

There are 52 3.5in by 4.5in images in the album, that was signed by Rosenthal who died in 2006.

The auction takes place in New York on Friday.

'BURNED INTO THE NATIONAL PSYCHE': THE BATTLE OF IWO JIMA

Navy landing craft disgorge tons of supplies onto the shores of Iwo Jima a few hours after U.S. Marines established a beach-head in March 1945

The tiny Pacific island of Iwo Jima was seen as key to the United States because it had three airfields that could be used to launch raids on Tokyo and Japan's main islands.

Virtually all of the 22,000 Japanese soldiers tasked with defending the rugged, volcanic crag were killed in the battle.

The site became a symbol and rallying point for the United States in the Pacific war after the country's flag was raised on its highest ground, Mount Suribachi.

The battle claimed 6,821 out of the 30,000 American troops and 21,570 Japanese lives.

Dozens of remains are recovered every year, but about 12,000 Japanese are still classified as missing in action and presumed killed on the island, along with 218 Americans.

Fighting began on February 19, 1945, but Iwo Jima was not declared secured until March 26.

Japan surrendered in August of that year, after the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

'Iwo Jima is a unique place in the history of the United States,' said Marine Corps commandant Gen. James Conway, speaking in 2010.

'It was not the bloodiest fight in the Pacific campaign, it was not the most operationally sound, not the longest and arguably not the most important.

'But Iwo is burned into our national psyche in a way that no other battle in U.S. is.'